The British Foreign an Commonwealth Office (FCO) has failed for over a week to confirm the safety and wellbeing of a British father held on death row in Ethiopia, despite having received reports last weekend that his life was in danger.

The Foreign Secretary has refused to request the release of a British father who yesterday (1 September 2016) spent his 800th day in unlawful detention in Ethiopia, after being kidnapped and rendered to the country by Ethiopian forces in 2014.

The killing of almost100 street protestors in Ethiopia and a new round of political trials have raised fears for a British political activist on death row there, international human rights charity Reprieve has said.

The Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says he used a visit to Ethiopia yesterday (1 June 2016) to secure ‘legal access’ for a British man who was kidnapped and rendered to the country in 2014, and who is now held under sentence of death.

Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) has said it will monitor the case of a British father held in Ethiopia, among other cases, amid concerns that the government has lessened its commitment to ending human rights abuses abroad.

The UK government is providing funding to help train Ethiopian security forces, despite evidence of their involvement in the kidnap and rendition of a British man who is now held under sentence of death.